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(No Model.)

B. T. JOYCE.

TOBAGOO KNIFE. No. 244,252, y Patented July 12,1881.

wmmssns: C/ INVEN 0 W Y BY ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT T. JOYCE, OF DANBURY, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND SYDNEY E. ALLEN, OFWINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

TOBACCO-KNIFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,252, dated July 12,1881.

Application filed May 18, 1881.

To all whom Lt may concern Beit known that LRoBERT THOMAS J own, acitizen of the United States, and residing at Danbury, in the county ofStokes, in the State of North Carolina, have invented new and usefulImprovementsin Tobacco-Knives, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in tobacco splitting and cuttingknives in which the blade and handle of the knife are set at an angleto, instead of in line with, each other.

Heretofore such knives have been constructed with plain round handles,and, as a consequence, workmen using them have been often cramped in thehands and strained in the wrists from the rigidity of grasp necessary tohold the instrument in position and the force required upon the front ofthe handlewhen splitting the tobacco-stalk.

The object of my invention is to provide a knife which shall subject theoperator to neither of these inconveniences, and shall at the same timebe cheap, simple, and easily manipulated.

My invention consists in constructinga knife having a blade whose edgesare parallel and curved toward the extremity, and a handle set at aslightly obtuse angle to the straight part of the blade, said handlebeing provided upon its forward upper end with a projection or rest tosupport the hand when splitting the tobacco-stalk.

In the drawings,Figure l is a side elevation of my invention, and Fig. 2is a front-end elevation of the same.

The blade A has parallel sharpened edges, which are curved suflicientlyat B to allow the hand of the operator, when splitting the stalk, tocome almost in a line with said stalk, and in that way labor under theleast possible disadvantage in making the stroke.

The rivets 0 fasten the blade into the bandle D, said handle beingformed in much the same shape as the handle of an ordinary carpentel ssaw, this form having been found by experience to afford the easiest andfirmest grasp.

Upon the upper forward corner of D is formed the projection or rest E,shaped to fit (No model.)

the hand, so that when the operator presses downwardly in splitting thestalk a portion of the force is applied through the medium of the restE, bearing against the back of the hand, between the thumb andforefinger extended, and the strain upon the fingers thus lessened.

In using myirnproved tobacco-knife the op erator holds the knife in suchposition as will bring the blade in contact with the end of the stalk,about midway of the former. Then by a downward stroke, brin gin gthehandle nearer and nearer the stalk as the knife descends, a sliding outis-made and the stalk easily split to the required joint. The hookedside of the blade is then brought in contact with the farther side ofthe stalk, and. the latter is severed by an upward stroke toward theoperator.

Where the ordinary handle and blade are used, the strain upon thefingers and wrist is very severe, while the direction of the stroke animportant consideration is apt to be changed and the blade driventhrough the side of the stalk; but with my improved knife the guard orrest bears the greater part of the strain, so that the stroke is littlemore than a simple push and can be made without grasping the handle withany great force. Moreover, in consequence of this, any deflection fromthe middle line of the stalk is quickly discovered and may be easilyrighted, the whole form of the handle being such as to make it almostimpossible for it to turn or twist in the hand.

The blade is made with parallel edges, because of the additional.strength of such a form. The points of knives have generally to bear thegreatest amount of strain and torsion, and therefore the ordinary sharppoints are most often broken and the blade made useless.

I am aware that a tobacco-knife consisting of a double-edged curvedblade provided with a guarded handle, the two parts of which are atright angles to each other, has heretofore been employed; and I am alsoaware that a tobacco-knife consisting of a double-edged curved bladeprovided with a handle, which, with the blade, forms a letter S, asshown in Letters Patent granted to E. T. Shelton for a tobacco-knife,dated June 22, 1875, No.164,880,

has heretofore been employed; and I therefore lay no claim to suchconstructions, my invention being confined to the precise construction 5and arrangement of parts as pointed out in the claim.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim is-- A tobacco -knifeconsisting of the double- 1o edged curved blade A, of the same widththroughout, handle D, secured to the blade and at right angles thereto,and provided with a central opening and projection, E, on its upperedge, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

ROBERT THOMAS JOYCE.

Witnesses:

WALTER W. KING, W. T. V. MoOAULEss.

